Daryl Dike and Barnsley Chasing History

The Championship is a division swamped with clubs hemorrhaging millions of pounds in pursuit of promotion. Derby County and Birmingham City are examples of teams who have loosened their purse strings recently without much success. Neither side has achieved promotion, and both are currently entangled in a relegation scrap. Financial negligence and mismanagement are rife in England’s second tier, so this makes Barnsley’s achievements of late even more impressive, considering they aren’t one of the league’s big spenders.

The South Yorkshire outfit, who only retained their Championship status last season thanks to a dramatic last-day victory over Brentford, are a club that do things the right way. Barnsley are a member of the Pacific Media Group, along with a cluster of other modestly sized European sides, and are part-owned by Moneyball pioneer Billy Beane so, unsurprisingly, place a huge emphasis on data when it comes to the recruitment of both playing and coaching staff.

The Tykes rarely break the bank and often look to offload players before bringing any in. Over the past three seasons, the club has made a total transfer profit of around £3 million. They have bought just three players for over £1 million during that time while selling the likes of Ethan Pinnock and Jacob Brown for far more than they were originally signed for.  Barnsley’s data-driven approach to transfers has allowed them to unearth gems from across Europe, and while this method may be complicated somewhat by new Brexit regulations, they will have no trouble diversifying their recruitment strategy.

Their approach to recruiting managers is equally applaudable. Many Championship clubs suffer from a lack of identity and style, meaning they have a scattergun approach to transfers. Sheffield Wednesday, for example, have appointed five managers over the past two-and-a-half years with conflicting tactical ideologies. This was seen as recently as December when the club sacked the cautious, pragmatic Tony Pulis, replacing him with Darren Moore - someone who has previously spoken of his desire to play a more expansive, attacking brand of football.